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Smoke and mirrors from US politicians as gun control calls mount
School students from Montgomery County, Maryland protest outside the White House yesterday

CHILDREN from Marjory Stoneman Douglas school, where Nikolas Cruz massacred 17 people on February 14, vowed not to rest until they secure real gun law reform as they met politicians today.

Fifteen-year-old Rachel Catania said Florida legislators had fobbed her off with “non-answers” but that “a change is going to happen.

“We’re not going to be the school that got shot. We’re going to be the school that got shot and made something happen,” she said.

“We’re going to talk to these politicians tomorrow,” her schoolmate Alfonso Calderon said. “We’re going to talk to them the day after that.

“We’re going to keep pushing until something is done because people are dying and this can’t happen any more.”

But their demand that automatic weapons like the AR-15 Mr Cruz used be banned outright has met obfuscation, with Florida State Senate president Joe Negron telling tearful children who asked whether the guns should be outlawed: “That’s an issue that we’re reviewing.”

Mr Negron sponsored a 2011 state Bill that banned cities and counties from regulating gun or ammunition sales.

It was signed into law by Governor Rick Scott, who said “everything is on the table” in terms of responses to the latest school massacre, but refused to answer when asked if he was considering “any bans on any type of weapons.”

Instead, Republican politicians are talking about tweaks to the law, such as reclassifying AR-15s so that only those aged 21 or over can buy them.

US President Donald Trump said he would take action to “protect our children,” but the action being considered falls well short of serious restrictions on gun ownership.

Democrats tried to get a Bill on banning assault weapons and large-capacity gun magazines discussed in the House of Representatives yesterday, but the Republican majority easily dismissed it.

Teachers’ unions and the organisers of last year’s giant Women’s March are planning a 17-minute protest walkout from schools all over the United States on March 14, while the Marjory Stoneman Douglas pupils are planning a March for Our Lives on March 24 to raise pressure for gun control.

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